How to Break a Man
by buckminsterbarnes
Summary: How much pressure can a man takes before he snaps? Captain Kirk's limits are tested as he is abducted and stranded on a strange new world with no escape. His captor has forced him to play a part in a new class to hit the ranks of criminal scum across the universe-'How to Break a Man' - in which they are taught the methodology behind torture. How much can Kirk take before he breaks?
1. Chapter 1

Kirk sat silently, his arm propping up his drooping head as he struggled to stay awake. He never thought that he would willingly sleep in the Medical Ward, but it seemed to get more and more likely with every moment that had passed. He didn't think that he could sleep while one of his best friends lay in the biobed beside his chair, but he was starting to see that he was wrong a lot. He was glad that he could at least be with Spock as he fought off the disease plaguing his body, whether he was awake or not.

He was so sleepy, in fact, that he hardly even noticed the door creaking open. The beam of light striking across his face from the illuminated hallway shook him from his trance-like state.

"Jim, you need to go home," McCoy peeked his head in the door and let out an exasperated sigh as he saw the captain sitting at Spock's bedside.

"He's going to be okay, right Bones?" Kirk asked in a hushed voice as he watched Spock's chest rise and fall rhythmically. The Vulcan looked so peaceful in his biobed, save for the slightly twisted and anguished expression painting his especially pale face.

"He's got a strain of the Vulcanian virus Hon'affer," McCoy sighed heavily as he stepped through the door and closed it gently behind him. "M'Benga says that it can be serious, if left untreated."

"Lucky we were so close to Earth, then," Kirk ran his fingers nervously through his golden hair. "We were due for a shore leave and standard repairs anyway. How long do you think he'll be down and out for?"

"I would like to say less than two weeks, if these Vulcan specialists have anything to say about it. They're the best of the best, Jim. He's in good hands here." McCoy explained and Kirk folded his arms across his chest.

"Even if they aren't your hands?" Kirk asked, exchanging a worried glance with his friend.

"I might be the best physician on this side of the universe, I can't match these people when it comes to knowing anything about the green-blooded hobgoblins," McCoy sighed. "They know what they're doing."

"Good," Kirk breathed, almost inaudibly.

"So," McCoy cleared his throat. "Don't tell me that you're planning on sitting here with him the whole time we're on shore leave."

"I've got meetings to go to," Kirk grumbled. "Command figured that this would be the best time to schedule them."

"That's rough," McCoy shrugged. "But at least you'll be staying out of trouble this time."

"Oh believe me Bones, I find trouble wherever I go," Kirk smiled.

"Trust me, I know." McCoy rolled his eyes. "Just this time, try not to get hurt. One bridge member in the Medical Ward is too much already."

"I'll do my best," Kirk chuckled quietly.

"Right now, you need to go home and get some rest. It's been a long day." McCoy pressed as he took a step closer to Kirk.

"I don't want to leave him alone, Bones." Kirk insisted, rubbing his eyes as he struggled to stay awake.

"He won't be alone. There are doctors everywhere here. And Uhura's out in the waiting room right now, waiting to come in here." McCoy crossed his arms against his chest. "You need sleep."

"Fine," Kirk said dejectedly after a few seconds of silence. He slowly pushed himself up from his chair and brushed himself off. "But I'm coming back here in the morning before my meeting. And you'd better call me if anything changes."

"I'm going home too," McCoy sighed. "They're all but pushing me out of here and telling me to enjoy my shore leave," He grumbled and the two men headed towards the door.

"Do you even know how to _do_ that?" Kirk jested, taking one last look over his shoulder at his friend as they left the room. Spock remained perfectly still, save for the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest.

"Says you," McCoy scoffed. "And _yes,_ as a matter of fact, I do. I'm spending the day shopping for gifts for Joanna."

"I can't say that's the most interesting thing to do around here, but it's got to be better than going to a bunch of meetings," Kirk grumbled as they passed through the Medical Ward's doors and out into the chilling night air. "You ever think about how crazy it is that we've been to planets that are farther than the stars in our sky are from us?" Kirk asked as he stared at the twinkling lights above them.

"I think about how _insane_ we are for doing that all the time," McCoy shook his head and turned his gaze up to the stars as well. "But I can't deny that it is beautiful out there," McCoy sighed.

Both of the men turned their attention back to the street, only to see their path being blocked by a hulking shadow. They stumbled back to avoid colliding with the rigid stranger.

"Excuse us," Kirk said politely and attempted to sidestep the figure, but it reached out a long arm, blocking his path. Kirk instinctively lifted his arm to protect McCoy and reached for his phaser with the other. "Listen, we're just trying to get through." He said, his voice hardening as his brain switched into full alert mode.

The shadow took a large step forward and Kirk pushed McCoy back, sending his friend tumbling to the ground. McCoy quickly turned around to see the being engulf Kirk into its shadowy form, Kirk clawing at the ground, trying desperately to free himself. McCoy scooted back on the ground, his eyes wide with fear as Kirk screamed at him to run. Suddenly, two appendages from the sides of the mass shot out and snatched McCoy's legs, dragging him towards its main form. McCoy fumbled with the communicator on his belt, struggling to open it as the beast dragged his body along the ground quickly. The communicator slipped out of his fingers and clattered to the ground just as Kirk's face was engulfed in the shadows of the beast. McCoy sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes as the darkness came over him.

/

Kirk's eyes fluttered open as he felt a bright light pushing at his eyelids. As he looked around, he realized that he didn't have the slightest clue where he was or what had happened. He moved his hand to rub his eye, but he soon discovered that it was clamped very tightly to a large slab of some alien metal. He pulled at his other wrist and legs, only to find them in a similar situation. He cursed as he tugged at the restraints, but they didn't even threaten to budge.

"Bones?" Kirk cried out, his memories suddenly flooding back to him. "Bones!" He called again, looking around frantically for his companion. He soon realized that he was surrounded by nothing but white walls, and a bright white light from the ceiling. He looked down and saw that his uniform had been removed, and that he was now chained to the slab with only his black undershirt and pants.

His head snapped forward as the wall in front of him suddenly shifted and began to slowly retract into the ceiling. He struggled to pull his wrists from the restraints as the metal slab jerked forward and started to move him towards the receding door. His heart raced as he waited to see what was behind the door.

Much to his surprise, when the door raised, it didn't reveal a crowd of savage assailants waiting to tear him to bits. Instead, he found himself staring at what appeared to be a class. He recognized some of the students at the white and organized desks to be wanted bounty hunters and other scum from all over the galaxy. They all sat patiently, watching as he moved out from behind the wall.

"Class, please welcome Captain James Tiberius Kirk to the room," A towering alien at the head of the class gestured to Kirk, his fish-like eyes blinking slowly as he introduced him. He wasn't a species that Kirk had recognized. The creature was definitely bred for aquatic environments, his elongated fingers having the remnants of webbing between them, the thick gills that pulsed on his neck, and the massive spikes that ran down the back of his oblong head. A thick collared robe draped across his thin form, billowing out at the ends, the color as white as the walls around Kirk. His gray-blue skin faded against the fabric that covered his arms in a regal fashion.

"What the hell?" Kirk asked quietly, looking around at the intimidating students of the class.

"Captain Kirk, welcome to 'How to Break a Man'," The alien smiled, his razor sharp teeth appearing from under his thin lips and stretching across his entire face. "You will be the subject of this class."

"Wait," Kirk protested, pulling at the restraints again. "What do you mean?"

"I aim to teach these students the methods in which to torture a man in order to break him down," The alien gestured towards the students. "You should feel very honored for being selected for this position. I only select the most formidable opponents to demonstrate to my classes. You are going to be a tough one to break, Captain, but I am up for the challenge."

"Hang on a minute," Kirk warned. "I never agreed to this. Let me go. I don't even have any information that you want, why the hell would you want to torture me anyway?" His heart began to beat out of his chest.

"Ah, that leads me to the first lesson," The instructor said and all the students pulled out PADDs and began to type away on them. "You must decide for what reason you are torturing the subject. There are three main reasons," The alien held up a warped finger. "One, for information. Two, for revenge. Three, to simply break an enemy down and make him useless for his cause. It is very important to know why you are doing what you're doing. Confidence and conviction will get you anywhere," The instructor continued and Kirk narrowed his eyes. "I will be demonstrating the third reason on this particular subject."

"Listen, my crew is out there looking for me right now, and if you don't let me go, you're going to regret it," Kirk snarled, practically foaming at the mouth.

"The second lesson is to always know your subject. I have done extensive research on the Captain, and I must tell you, he is an interesting man. After some digging, I found his weaknesses fairly easily. For this reason, I have kidnapped one of his closest associates along with him," The instructor turned towards Kirk. "Now, Captain, if you resist, your friend will be greatly harmed. You wouldn't want that, would you?" He asked and Kirk shrunk, his blood running cold.

"You son of a bitch," He breathed and the instructor offered only another crooked smile.

"Now, with that out of the way, we can move on. There are two different types of torture, my students. There is mental warfare, and physical trauma. What you have just witnessed is an example of mental warfare, since I am attempting to manipulate his mind, instead of his body. Now, who would like to see an example of physical trauma?"

Kirk sucked in a deep breath. _How the fuck am I going to get myself out of this one?_ He thought as he looked over the psychotic smiles of the criminals before him.

/

 _Hooray another new story! I've been thinking about writing this one for a while, and I finally got around to it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I promise you that there's plenty of whump to come... As per usual, I don't have a beta reader so please pardon my errors. Also, like always, I'm always open to constructive criticism and general feedback. So, thanks again for reading, and I hope you'll stick around for more!_

 _-buckminsterbarnes_


	2. Chapter 2

"Nyota?" Uhura heard Chekov's small voice call from the doorway. She looked up from her PADD to see the curly-haired man peering through the doorway.

"Come on in, Pavel," Uhura smiled and set her PADD aside, standing up to greet him.

"Nyota, have you seen the Captain or Doctor McCoy at all today?" Sulu followed behind Chekov through the door.

"No," Her eyebrows knitted together as she tried to recall. "No, I haven't. Why, is there a problem?"

"No one's seen them all day," Sulu shrugged, looking over at the slumbering Spock in the biobed. "We figured they'd be here."

"I don't think they've come by. Did you ask the nurses?" She bit her lip, a bad feeling growing in her stomach.

"Zhe did not see zhem eizer," Chekov added.

"Did you try calling them?" She asked, already reaching for the communicator snuggled into her belt.

"No answer from Kirk. Just some static from McCoy," Sulu said. "But you're welcome to try."

Uhura flipped open the lid of her communicator and spun the dial deftly. "Uhura to Kirk," She spoke quietly into the communicator. They waited in silence for a few seconds, but received no reply. "Uhura to Kirk," She repeated, but again received only silence. She frowned at the small device, then twisted the dial again. "Uhura to McCoy," She tried, and she heard the click as someone on the other end picked up. "McCoy, where are you?" She asked, but she only heard a muffled shuffling as communicator closed and she lost the connection. "That's not like him at all," She mused, the bad feeling beginning to fester in her stomach. "And you checked their quarters?"

"Nezer of zhem vere zhere," Chekov answered solemnly.

"Do you think something happened to them?" Sulu asked, and the tension in the room grew.

"I don't know. We need to check their quarters again, just to be safe," She said sternly, then snatched her PADD from the table and began to type away. "Kirk had a couple of meetings with command earlier this morning. I'll call them and see if they've seen him. If not, we don't know anything for sure. They could just be playing hooky for a day." She shrugged, but her lie couldn't even fool her.

Sulu and Chekov nodded and hurried out the door, leaving Spock and Uhura alone again. She began tapping away on her PADD with one hand and twisting the dial on her communicator with the other, pacing nervously around the room as she did. She was too busy to notice the small twitch in Spock's otherwise stationary fingers.

/

"Today's lesson is in physical torture," The instructor stated matter-of-factly, drawing nearer to Kirk, who was still hanging by his arms, pinned to the slab of metal. He squirmed slightly as he saw the towering creature getting closer. "Now, though physical torture is often effective, it should be used sparingly at first. However, in this instance, I am going to demonstrate my prowess, as well as cripple my subject."

Kirk's eyes grew wide. "Wait a minute," Kirk began to protest, but a gag shot out from behind his head in the platform and wrapped itself tightly around his head.

"I would once again like to bring up the importance of research on your subject," The instructor continued, unfazed by Kirk's muffled swearing and attempts to break free. "Kirk is a human," He said, and suddenly the restrain around one of Kirk's legs slid out off place, freeing it. Before he had time to react, the alien had wrapped its long fingers around his thigh and yanked it out of its socket. He screamed out in pain as white hot fury coursed through his body. "Human joints are very vulnerable, if one knows how to manipulate them," The alien continued, re-latching the restraint. Kirk's eyes welled up with tears as the unbearable pain nearly consumed him. He hardly noticed the restraint on his other leg being retracted, then the alien repeating the same procedure. He howled in pain and shut his eyes tight. "The technique that I'm utilizing here is dislocation. Dislocation of human joints is considered to be an extremely painful experience, but dislocation of the hip is considered to be one of the most painful things that a human can experience."

Kirk's thoughts all muddled together as he fought to stay conscious. The bottom half of his body burned with a pain more intense than he had ever felt before. Tears streamed out of his eyes and down his cheeks, soaking the gag that caged his ferocious and pained cries.

"The pain will subside when I place the hips back into the appropriate sockets, however, it might be more efficient for soliciting purposes to let him stew overnight. What do you think, Captain?" The instructor turned to Kirk, who could barely see through all of the tears. He could make out the ghastly smile of the creature, however. "But I think that I will employ another method, here," The alien quickly pushed Kirk's hips back into their rightful position, but he could still feel the ghost of the pain, and the tears continued to stream down his face. "If you cooperate, Captain, there will be more opportunities like this for me to show mercy on you," His fish-like eyes twinkled. "What do you have to say about that?"

The gag retracted back into the metal slab and Kirk's chest heaved. "G-go...to...hell..." He managed to spit out through shaking breaths.

"It is going to require more to break you, Captain, as expected. Lucky for you, I have many techniques to get the job done." The alien smirked and the slab began to retreat back into the wall.

"All of you!" Kirk shouted, his breathing still shaky. "Go to hell!" He screamed, and the wall slid back into place in front of him.

The metal slab hit the wall with a loud thud, then slowly slid down the wall, moving Kirk until he was laying parallel to the floor. The restraints on his arms and legs unshackled themselves and Kirk quickly moved his arms out of their grasp.

"Bones," He called out, still trying to catch his breath. "Bones!" He repeated, mustering the strength to prop his upper body up on his elbows. "Shit." He sighed, his legs still pulsing with pain. He searched the small, white room only to find it barren. He sucked in a deep breath and let himself lay back down on the cold, hard metal.

"Hello?" He recognized McCoy's voice instantly and he sat up quickly, sending shooting pains down his legs. His head spun around, searching desperately for the source of the noise.

"Bones?" He breathed as he saw his best friend sitting like a scared child on the other side of some thick glass. "Bones, can you hear me?" He pushed his body off the platform, trying to stand. He crumpled to the floor, his legs buckling under the weight of his body. He cried out in anguish as he felt pain shooting up his body, but he still flipped himself onto his stomach and began to claw his way towards his friend. "Bones, are you okay? What did they do to you?" He asked rapidly, trying desperately to get closer to him.

"I'm fine," He said quietly, watching Kirk cautiously. "But who's Bones?"

/

 _And the plot thickens! Sorry this was such a short chapter, but I hope you enjoyed it. And trust me, there's a lot more to come. Thank you for reading, and I hope you stick around to see how all of this unfolds! As always, constructive criticism and general feedback is welcomed graciously. Thanks again for reading!_


	3. Chapter 3

"Can you track his communicator?" Uhura asked, pacing around in Spock's hospital room.

"Aye, lass. But do you think maybe we're just overreactin'?" Scotty gulped, his gut telling him that they weren't.

"But it does not hurt to check, does it?" Chekov shrugged, already typing frantically on his PADD.

"I'm jus' sayin', the last thing I want is for an angry McCoy to be chasin' me down for invadin' his privacy," Scotty chuckled nervously.

"Well, that's what he gets for not returning our calls," Uhura said harshly.

"I hawe it!" Chekov cheered, lifting his PADD into the air.

"How far?" Uhura asked quickly.

"Just down zhe road!" Chekov exclaimed.

"Let's go," Uhura rushed out the door, followed quickly by the two men.

Chekov led them down the road, watching the small, blinking beacon light up his screen. Uhura's heart beat out of her chest as she followed the younger man, their feet pattering against the ground nearly in sync.

"Zhere!" Chekov looked up and Uhura's heart sank as they came across a huddled mess sitting along an alley wall.

"Leonard..?" Uhura asked nervously, drawing closer to the figure. She reached a hand out, but jumped back when the mass rolled over to reveal a bearded old man, flies zipping around him.

"Have ye come to steal my treasure?!" The old man shrieked, revealing his yellowing, and some missing, teeth. All three crew members staggered back as he sat up, revealing a tattered communicator on his belt.

"...Hello, sir. I believe you have something that belongs to a friend of ours," Uhura cleared her throat and finally spoke, eyeing up the communicator.

"Finders keepers," The man scoffed and Uhura's face twisted into an impatient frown.

"How about a trade?" She sighed and pulled out a small pouch from her belt, filled with credits.

"I don't want yer credits," The man scowled and rolled back over.

"Wait! What about..." Uhura looked around rapidly and spotted the gleaming Starfleet insignia on Chekov's chest. "What about this?" Uhura ripped the patch from the young man's chest and he blushed wildly.

The old man rolled back around and furrowed his brow. "I suppose..." He hesitantly pulled the communicator from his belt and reached it out to Uhura. Uhura carefully took it from his hand and replaced it with the patch.

"Thank you," Uhura said quietly and nodded. She gave a quick nod at the two men behind her and they headed out of the alleyway and back to the main, dimly lit street.

"What is it, lass?" Scotty asked as they came to a stop, Uhura carefully inspecting the shattered communicator.

"This thing is not in good shape," Uhura narrowed her eyes and handed it off to Scotty.

"Aye, that's fairly obvious," Scotty took the communicator in his hands and began to inspect it. "The thing I dannae understand is how,"

"What do you mean?" Uhura asked.

"I jus' repaired this damned thing no' two days ago," Scotty grimaced.

"So, what are you thinking?" Uhura asked nervously.

"I dannae think they left on their own accord."

/

"Bones, come on. We don't have time for this shit," He snarled as he attempted to sit himself up against the glass, mirroring McCoy.

"I don't know who that is, but I know you've got the wrong man," McCoy said, his voice growing cold as he shifted away from the glass.

Kirk felt something snap inside him. A cold feeling rushed through his body as he looked his friend in the eyes, only to realize that the regular recognition was nowhere to be found.

"Bones, I-" He squeaked and winced again in pain as he remembered the gut-wrenching pain in his hips. "It's _me_ , Bones. You've got to help me. You've got to fix me up." Kirk pleaded, shifting slowly.

"Listen, I'm no doctor, and I don't know who ' _me_ ' is." McCoy said harshly, fear in his eyes as the other man seemed unrelenting.

"Bones, _please_ ," Kirk winced as he moved closer, and McCoy shot up from the floor.

"Dammit man, I'm not a doctor, and I'm _certainly_ not this 'Bones' fellow, either!" McCoy yelled, his voice shaky with anger and fear.

Kirk looked up at his friend, his eyes swelling with tears from the pain. McCoy's expression softened at the sorry state of the golden-haired man. " _Please_." Kirk breathed, and suddenly the glass went opaque, McCoy disappearing from his sight. Kirk jerked away from the glass in shock, his hips screaming with the sudden motion.

"And this, my students, is another example of mental warfare," The alien's voice resounded through the room. "Take everything and more from the victim."

/

Kirk didn't sleep that night. Between the unrelenting pain coursing through his body and the vision of McCoy's scared face replaying itself in his head, he had too much to think about. He had somehow managed, slowly and painfully, to prop himself up against one of the walls, as far away from the platform as possible. His eyes were bloodshot and red as he sat vigilant, refusing to leave himself vulnerable.

The night seemed to last forever. In fact, he wasn't even sure that it was night anymore. Sure, it could be because of the planet's rotation, he thought, but then an even worse realization hit him-perhaps it wasn't night at all. The room wasn't dimmed, and he realized why. This was another bout of torture.

James T. Kirk was no stranger to torture. He had been through his fair share through the years, and he was sorry to admit that he had dished it out on occasion. But _never_ did he do something this heinous. Never would he leave his subject in a brightly lit room, letting them lose track of time. His fear that the night would never end might actually come true.

"I know what you're doing, you sick motherfucker," Kirk's hoarse voice called and echoed through the room. "Trying to make me go insane by messing up my body's sense of time? Well guess what, you're going to have to do a lot more than just this to break me." He snarled.

"You are an observant one, aren't you, captain?" Kirk's heart skipped a beat when he got a response from the alien over the speaker. "I thought I might have to crank things up a notch." The alien's voice was soon replaced with a gargling white noise.

 _Shit._ Kirk thought to himself. He knew that the repetitive playing of white noise could drive a man insane in no time at all. His eyes scanned the room, looking for anything to help him escape. _Find the speakers, Jim._ He thought to himself as he looked high and low. The white walls were somehow barren, and the light from the ceiling was much to bright from him to look into. There was nothing for him to stop the noise with. Except...

He worked quickly to pry off his shirt and wrap it around his ears. He ignored the sharp pains running up his body as he moved and tied it on, successfully muffling the noise around him. He stuck a middle finger up as he sat in silence.

Despite having overcome the obstacle right in front of him, he couldn't let his brain rest. He had to come up with a way out. He had to get out. He had to save McCoy.

/

 _Wow, very long time, no update. I know this update isn't spectacular in any way, but I'm hoping that it'll help me break through the bout of block I'm going through. So, sorry for the delay, but thanks for sticking with me, and I hope that I'll be able to improve it with time!_

 _-buckminsterbarnes_


End file.
